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Sunday, August 3, 2014

"But if it meant that I'd finally be able to put my grandfather's mystery to rest and get on with my unextraordinary life, anything I had to endure would be worth it" (P. 64).

Title:Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children

Author: Ransom Riggs

HARDBACK

Amount of Pages:352

Publisher: Quirk Books

Release Date: June 7, 2011

Geared Towards: Teens

From: Library

I was not paid for this review.

Summary:Jacob grew up listening to his grandfather's fantastical childhood stories filled with peculiar children. There was a girl who could levitate, a boy who was completely invisible and another girl who had the ability to manipulate fire. Though there were photographs, Jacob labeled all of those stories as fiction and only listened to humor his grandfather. However, when Jacob's grandfather dies under mysterious circumstances, Jacob has to investigate and deem whether what he believes is truth or fiction is actually so.

Wdebo's Review: I heard about this book when it first came out a few years ago. At that time I was in high school (AKA the years when I actually had time to read); however, I never did have the chance to find the book and indulge in it. The premise of the story greatly interested me especially the trove of old, strange looking photographs. Though the idea behind the story was super interesting especially within the YA genre, the execution was not the best.

The story began rather promisingly. I was sucked into the story at the very beginning especially with the promise of exciting adventures as well as strange photographs. However, after a while it just did not seem to hold me as greatly as the earlier parts of the story had. And towards the end, I honestly just started skimming through it till I finished. The action of the entire of story was pushed way too back and did not have enough time to brew and simmer and greatly take a hold of the reader.

While reading it, Jacob's interaction with other characters became more and more 2D and impersonal. It was hard to be gripped by what was happening, it just seemed like he was moving around because he was told to. Riggs was trying to paint him in a passionate search for his grandfather's past however it was having a great amount of difficulty reaching me. I did enjoy seeing the home in the beginning; however, after a while though there was mystery and intrigue that was surrounding it, it just did not hold, each strange thing that was learned about was instantly resolved. Miss Peregrine herself was hard to decipher after now I am not sure whether she is slightly evil or good, she was not fleshed out as much as I wanted her to be, there was an effort made but it was not as complete as I wanted it to be. And that felt like how it was for all of the characters.

Jacob was the character that was discussed in most depth, obviously since he was the main character. However, so much more could have been done with him. I was not the biggest fan of how he was portrayed there was something about him at times just seemed slightly annoying. He also seemed so much younger than the sixteen years old he was supposed to be, I honestly thought he was like twelve when I first started reading the book. The relationship between him and Emma was pretty interesting but just not delved into that much. There were so many parts of the story where it was only scratched at the surface so you only know about a little bit. Which was a shame because there was so much that could still have been discussed.

The best parts of the story was the photographs, from the author's notes it was interesting to see how Riggs was trying to piece this story together from the different photographs that he had found from various collectors. However, in points of the story that is very evident. You can see the quilted aspect of the story which made it seem choppy and rushed together. But there were parts of the story that fit together nicely it was just a shame that was not how it was for the entire story itself.

Café Cover Chit Chat: I really like this cover, as stated above, the strange photographs are one of the main reasons why I had decided and been intrigued by the storyline itself. The back cover also has some of the weird...peculiar photographs as well. (A)

All in all, though not the best story especially given the fascinating premise, it was none the way an enjoyable way to pass a couple hours if you just need something to pass the time.